Athletes and parents must commit to programs if they want to win (Letter)

Mendon High School's football team practices in this file photo.MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette file photo

I have been a coach for 32 years. In that time I have seen many changes in high school sports, some good and some not so good. One thing that has recently jumped out at me is the lack of commitment by many of today's high school athletes and their parents.

To be truly good at your craft you must put the time in constantly. But it seems lately that few really want to put the time in. They are too busy with vacations and other things. Before moving here in 1990, I was involved with a high school football program in California. We trained year round. The weight room was always open and we even had athletes that would check weights out during the dead week periods and vacations.

Now I am not saying that these kids never had a family vacation. Most of them did. The vacations were limited to certain times of the year and limited in length. In the six years I was there we won five league titles and two state titles.We were always competitive.

The point is as I watch the successful programs in Michigan, they are doing similar things. The programs that win consistently train all the time. If you want to be truly good you must constantly work at it. Athletes that train constantly not only improve at their craft but they have little time to get into trouble. They basically have time to train and time to study. Social time comes later and they do find time for that as well.

This type of mentality takes sacrifice and I believe that is why we see so little of it. It takes sacrifice by everyone involved. Parents and even some family members must put some things aside for the good of the athlete and the good of the team.

You simply cannot just show up and expect to win without putting forth the effort and time during practice and during the off season.